Refuse shredder

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is an improved articulated bar flail having shearing edges for efficiently shredding materials. An improved shredder cylinder is disclosed with a plurality of these flails circumferentially spaced and pivotally attached to the periphery of a rotatable shaft. Also disclosed is an improved shredder apparatus which has a pair of these shredder cylinders mounted to rotate about spaced parallel axes which cooperates with a conveyer apparatus which has a pair of inclined converging conveyer belts with one of the belts mounted to move with respect to the other belt to allow the transport of articles of various sizes therethrough.

United States Patent [1 1 Nash 1 1 REFUSE SHREDDER James C. Nash, Sulphur Springs, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Longhorn Construction Co., Inc.,

Sulphur Springs, Tex.

[22] Filed: Sept. 4, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 393,942

[75] Inventor:

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,871,489 8/1932 Ammon 241/194 X 2,301,088 11/1942 Stahl 241/186 X 2,659.188 11/1953 Haban 241/194 X 2.810.529 10/1957 Jensen t 241/194 2,952,493 9/1960 Finn t 241/194 X 2,986,186 5/196'1 White 241/194 X Dec. 23, 1975 Reinecker 241/194 X Tyler 241/187 [57] ABSTRACT Disclosed is an improved articulated bar flail having shearing edges for efficiently shredding materials. An improved shredder cylinder is disclosed with a plurality of these flails circumferentially spaced and pivotally attached to the periphery of a rotatable shaft. Also disclosed is an improved shredder apparatus which has a pair of these shredder cylinders mounted to rotate about spaced parallel axes which cooperates with a conveyer apparatus which has a pair of inclined converging conveyer belts with one of the belts mounted to move with respect to the other belt to allow the transport of articles of various sizes therethrough.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of4 3,927,840

FIG.

U.S. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of4 3,927,840

F/GZ

FIG 3 U.S. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 4 Of4 3,927,840

REFUSE SHREDDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to improvements in shredders. In another aspect, this invention relates to a new and improved refuse feeder and shredder which can efficiently shred refuse having articles therein of a variety of sizes. shapes and materials.

In the handling and disposal of refuse such as residential and industrial waste materials, it has been a common practice to collect the refuse, then incinerate the collected refuse to reduce its ultimate volume and thereafter dispose of the resultant ash and other residue by placing the same in a land fill or the like.

Although the disposal of waste materials by this pro cess has served its purpose, a need to improve the process has arisen. This need has become acute with the increased cost in providing land fill sites. Furthermore, the use of small compacting units which compact refuse prior to its collection substantially increases the density of the residential and industrial refuse delivered to the municipal incinerators. This increased density of the industrial and residential waste materials has increased the costs involved in completely incinerating these materials by substantially lengthening the time involved and fuel consumed in the incineration process.

To improve these municipal waste disposal systems, it has been found that if refuse and particularly the compacted refuse is first shredded, incineration can be more efficiently accomplished. Shredding of the refuse has also presented various problems, for example, fibrous material and particularly damp fibrous material. such as paper and cardboard, is generally difflcult to efficiently shred in conventional machinery. Therefore, it is a primary purpose of the present invention to provide an improved shredding apparatus for use in the efficient shredding of the variety of sizes, shapes and materials present in residential and industrial refuse.

Therefore, according to one embodiment of this invention, an improved articulated bar flail with sharp shearing edges is provided.

According to another embodiment of the invention an improved shredder apparatus is provided which includes a rotatable shredder cylinder with the improved flail members thereon.

The present invention also contemplates the use of an improved shredder apparatus in which a pair of feeder conveyers are used to feed refuse into a shredding portion of the apparatus and wherein the shredder itself is provided with a pair of said shredder cylinders with said improved flail members thereon which are appropriately shaped and positioned to efficiently shred articles of various sizes, shapes and materials.

The present invention will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following Detailed Description when considered in connection with the accompanying Drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of the im proved refuse shredder apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a front elevation view partly in section of the improved refuse shredder apparatus illustrated in FIG. I;

FIG. 3 illustrates a partial section of the shredder portion of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the flails and their attachment to one of the rotating shredder cylinders;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the shredder cylinders of the present invention with attached flails thereon; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating a portion of the shredder cylinders.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the Drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is shown a refuse shredder apparatus which for purposes of description is identified by reference numeral 10. This shredder apparatus 10 is of the type which is utilized to shred waste or refuse materials so that refuse may be more efficiently incinerated as desired. The apparatus 10 has a feed opening 11 adjacent to the top thereof for injection of refuse into a conveyer portion 12. This portion 12 is located in a feed hopper and is positioned adjacent to and above a shredder portion 14. The conveyer portion 12 is provided with conveying apparatus for conveying refuse down into the shredder portion I4, wherein the material is shredded as will be hereinafter described in more detail. A discharge opening 16 is located below the shredder portion 14 for the discharge of the shredded material from the apparatus 10. It is envisioned, of course, that a suitable feed conveyor (not shown) could be located above the apparatus I0 to continuously deliver refuse to the opening 11 and an appropriate conveyer (not shown) could be positioned below the discharge opening 16 to receive and transport the shredded refuse from the apparatus 10 as desired.

As previously described, the conveyor portion 12 is provided with a rectangular opening 11 to allow the passage of refuse material into the apparatus. The opening I] is bordered by a flanged portion l8, which can be connected to a suitable shield or feed hopper. The conveyer portion 12 has a sheet metal housing 20, which defines a conveyer chamber 22. This housing 20 has three generally vertically-extending walls 24, 26 and 28, and one inclined wall 30.

Mounted within the chamber 22 are first and second conveyer assemblies 32 and 33, respectively. These conveyer assemblies are inclined toward each other to feed refuse down into the shredder portion 14. The conveyer assebmly 33 is movable within the chamber 22, as will be hereinafter described in detail to allow the passage of various sizes of articles through the conveyer portion 12.

Each of the conveyer assemblies 32 and 33 have endless conveying belts or surfaces 34 which are mounted on and driven by parallel spaced shafts. These belts 34 can be of any conventional type which can be mounted between spaced shafts and will adequately convey the refuse material.

The conveyer assembly 32 is fixed in position in the chamber 22, with parallel shafts 36 and 38 rotatably attached to walls 24 and 28 by means of two bearing assemblies 40 on wall 24 and two bearing assemblies (not shown) on wall 28. Shaft 38 is an idler shaft which rotates with the movement of the belt 34, whereas shaft 36 is driven by motor 42 through a suitable drive mech anism. This drive mechanism has a speed reduction 3 gearing 44 which has its input connected to the motor 42 and its output connected to a pulley 46 on shaft 36 through pulley 48 and belt 50. Thus, it can be seen that the conveyor assembly 32 is driven by motor 42 in the direction of arrow 52 to convey refuse in a downward direction.

Conveyer assembly 33 is similar in construction to the conveyer 32 except that conveyer assembly 33 moves toward and away from conveyer assembly 32 to allow the passage of refuse therebetween. The belt 34 is mounted between and moved by parallel spaced shafts 60 and 62. The upper shaft 60 has one end rotatably attached to the wall 24 by a bearing assembly (not shown) and the other end attached to wall 28 by means of another bearing assembly (not shown). The lower shaft 62 is an idler shaft which rotates with the movement of the belt 34. In addition, the shaft 62 is mounted on a frame 64 which extends from and rotates about shaft 60 as illustrated by arrow 66. The shaft 62 is rotatably attached to the frame 64 by means of bearing assemblies 68 which slide in slots 70 in the walls 24 and 28. These slots 70 define the limits of the rotation of the conveyer assembly 33 about the shaft 60.

The shaft 60 is driven by a suitable electric motor 72, through reduction gearing 74, pulley 76, endless belt 78 and pulley 80 fixed on shaft 60. The motor 72 and gearing 74 are mounted on a platform 82 which is in turn rigidly attached to frame 64 to rotate about shaft 60 with the frame 64. A weight 84 is attached to the platform 82 and is of sufficient size to overbalance the weight of the conveyer assembly 33 and cause the conveyer assembly 33 to rotate (as shown in FIG. 2) in the direction of arrow 66. The weight 84 thus biases the conveyer assembly 33 to the position shown in FIG. 2, but it is to be understood, of course, that as material is fed down into the conveyer portion 12, the conveyer assembly 33 will rotate in the reverse direction of arrow 66 to allow the passage of the material down into the shredder portion 14. In this manner, materials of various sizes and shapes can be fed into the shredder portion 14.

Once the material has passed through the conveyer portion I2, it falls down into the shredder portion 14. The details of the structure and operation of this shredder portion 14 can be seen in FIGS. 3 through 6. In FIG. 3, the shredder portion I4 is shown surrounded by a sheet metal housing 90 which defines a chamber 92. The housing 90 can be provided with doors, if desired, to provide access to the interior of the housing for service and the like. Mounted within the chamber 92 is a pair of rotatable shafts 94 and 96. These shafts are fixed in a parallel spaced relationship and are rotatably attached to the housing 90 by suitable bearings 97.

Each of the shafts 94 and 96 have drive pulleys 98 and I00, respectively, attached thereto. The drive pulleys 98 and 100 are each independently driven in opposite directions by electrical motors 102 and I04, respectively, through endless belts. In this manner, the shafts 94 and 96 are independently driven by motors. The shafts 94 and 96 are each attached to a shredder cylinder I (FIG. 5). The shredder cylinder is constructed by rigidly attaching a plurality of discs 106 to each of the shafts 94 and 96. These discs 106 are spaced along the length of the shafts with their surfaces extending normal to the axes of the shafts. Each of the discs 106 has eight radially spaced circular holes I08 near the periphery thereof. In addition, each disc 106 is provided with four smaller radially spaced holes I which are spaced inside of the larger holes 108. Stiffener rods II2 are inserted through the aligned holes I10 in the discs I06 ofthe shredder cylinder 105. A set, having a plurality of articulated bar flails 120 therein, is attached between adjacent discs 106 by means of cylindrical rods I22 which are inserted through the aligned holes 108.

As can be seen in FIG. 5, each set has four flails 120 which are attached between each pair of discs I06 and are spaced at from each other by passing the rods I22 through openings in one end of the flails 120. The adjacent set of four flails 120 are identically mounted between the next adjacent pair of discs 106 except that these flails 120 are offset by 45 from the adjacent flails. This 45 offset of adjacent flail sets is repeated along the length of the shredder cylinder 105. It should be understood, of course, that the selection of four flails between each pair of discs is preferred in the particular embodiment illustrated and that other configurations could also be used as desired.

By attaching the flails I20 as shown, the flails I20 can rotate about the rods 122 during the shredding operation. In FIG. 4, it can be seen that each of the flails 120 is provided with a first inner leg 126 having a pair of links which are pivotally attached by means of the rods 122 to the discs 106. A spacer 128 is positioned on the rods 122 between the links. An intermediate leg 130 has one end pivotally attached by nut and bolt assembly 132 to the inner leg I26. The other end of the intermediate leg 130 is pivotally attached by means of a nut and bolt assembly 136 to an outer leg 134 having a pair of links.

As can be seen in FIG. 6, the shredder cylinders are rotated in opposite directions as shown by arrows I40 and 142, so that the flails will be rotated to contact any refuse material [44 which is delivered to the shredder portion 14 of the apparatus 10. These flails have a rectangular cross section with sharp corners or edges I46 thereon. These corners 146 serve as sharp shearing edges and aid the flails I20 in shredding refuse 144 as the flails I20 come into contact with the refuse.

OPERATION OF THE DEVICE In operation, refuse is fed into the apparatus 10 through the opening 11 and into the conveyer portion 12. The refuse is then contacted by the conveyer assemblies 32 and 33 where it is fed down into the shredder portion I4 by the action of the conveyers. As articles of various sizes pass through the conveyer portion I2, the conveyer assembly 33 will move to and away from the fixed conveyer 32.

As the refuse leaves the conveyer portion 12, it falls into the shredder portion 14 between the two rotating shredder cylinders I05. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the refuse I44 is forcibly struck by the sharp edges I46 of the individual flails I20 to shred the refuse.

The individual flails I20 are positioned on the shredder cylinders 105 such that they will not normally contact the next adjacent flail when in operation and thus will not interfere with the operation of the other flails. In addition, the flails 120 are each pivoted about the rods I22 and will fold about the nut and bolt assemblies I32 and I36. Although these flails 120 can pivot and fold as described above, this movement is limited to rotation about axes parallel to the shafts 94 and 96, and therefore, each set of four flails is restricted to move between one pair of adjacent discs I06 and will not contact or interfere with the operation of flails in another set (between the next adjacent pair of discs 106),

As softer and fibrous materials such as paper and the like fall into the shredder portion 14, the flails 120 will contact the material and sharp edges 146 will shear, cut into and shred the material as the shredder cylinders 105 rotate.

As harder materials such as tin cans, scrap metal and the like fall into the shredder portion 14, the flails will be deflected in a staggered fashion. In FIG. 6, the pro gressive or staggered deflection of the flails 120 is illus trated. The refuse 144 pictorially illustrates a hard substance which is difficult to penetrate by the flails 120. One of the right hand flails 120 on shaft 96 is illustrated in contact with the refuse 144. This flail 120 has its outer leg 134 rotated back approximately 90 about nut and bolt assembly 136 to allow the passage of the refuse 144 through the shredder portion 14. This deflection of the flail 120 about nut and bolt assembly 136 leaves the remainder of the flail 120 free to operate in its normal shredding position.

The left hand flail 120 on shaft 94 contacting the refuse 144 illustrates the further staggered deflection of the flail 120. This flail 120 is deflected about nut and bolt assembly 132, with the legs 130 and 134 at an angle with respect to the leg 126. This left hand flail 120 illustrates a further step or staggered deflection of the flails to allow the passage of rigid articles of refuse 144 of various sizes through the shredder portion 14, while providing an efficient operation of the flails. It is also apparent that the flails 120 could be deflected about the rods 122 to allow a further staggered deflee tion of the flails 120 to enable the passage of even larger articles of refuse 144.

It is also important to note that the individual flails 120 are positioned on the shredder cylinders 105 and are ofsuch a size that when normally deflected as illustrated in FlGi 6, the flails will not contact or interfere with adjacent flails to cause a back lash type action. This improves the overall efficiency of the shredder cylinders, by assisting in maintaining the flails in the normal operating position.

ln the foregoing description each of the flails 120 have been illustrated in their preferred form as having three separate legs 126, 130 and 134. It is to be understood, of course, that the flails 120 could have more or less legs as dictated by the particular type of refuse to be shreddedv It is also to be understood, of course. that the forcgoing disclosure relates only to a preferred embodiment of the present invention and that numerous alterations can be utiliyed to practice the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for shredding materials for the subsequent processing of the shredded materials comprising in combination a pair of opposing shredding cylinders, means for rotating the cylinders, means for feeding the material to between the cylinders, means for removing shredded material from between the cylinders, and a plurality of flails attached to and radially protruding from the cylinders, each flail having no more than three links, means for pivotally connecting the links of each flail to each other and for pivotally connecting each flail to its corresponding cylinder, the pivot means permitting pivotal movements of the flails and the links about axes parallel to an axis rotation of the cylinder, each flail having an outermost link defined by a pair of spaced-apart independently pivotal segments, each segment having a first substantially straight surface facing in the direction of rotation of its associated cylinder, a second substantially straight surface which is substantially perpendicular to the first surface and which is substantially parallel to an axis of rotation of the cylinder, and an outermost cutting edge defined by the intersection of the first and second surfaces which is substantially perpendicular to the first mentioned cutting edges.

2. Shredding apparatus for disintegrating materials for the subsequent processing of the disintegrated materials comprising in combination: a pair of parallel, spaced-apart shredding cylinders, each cylinder including a plurality of articulated, radially protruding and axially and circumferentially spaced shredding flails, intake means for receiving the materials to be shredded, and means for feeding the material to be shredded from the intake means to the cylinders, the feeding means comprising a pair of elongate opposing feeding surfaces which are angularly inclined with respect to each other and which have first ends adjacent the intake means relatively remote from each other and second ends adjacent the cylinders relatively proximate to each other, means for activating the feeding surfaces to force feed material to be shredded to the cylinders, means mounting at least one of the surfaces for relative pivotal movement with respect to the other surface about a pivot axis positioned so that the second ends of the surfaces can be moved towards and away relative to each other to permit the passage of objects of varying sizes between the second ends of the surfaces, and means for resiliently biasing the second end of said one surface towards the second end of the other surface. 

1. Apparatus for shredding materials for the subsequent processing of the shredded materials comprising in combination a pair of opposing shredding cylinders, means for rotating the cylinders, means for feeding the material to between the cylinders, means for removing shredded material from between the cylinders, and a plurality of flails attached to and radially protruding from the cylinders, each flail having no more than three links, means for pivotally connecting the links of each flail to each other and for pivotally connecting each flail to its corresponding cylinder, the pivot means permitting pivotal movements of the flails and the links about axes parallel to an axis rotation of the cylinder, each flail having an outermost link defined by a pair of spaced-apart independently pivotal segments, each segment having a first substantially straight surface facing in the direction of rotation of its associated cylinder, a second substantially straight surface which is substantially perpendicular to the first surface and which is substantially parallel to an axis of rotation of the cylinder, and an outermost cutting edge defined by the intersection of the first and second surfaces which is substantially perpendicular to the first mentioned cutting edges.
 2. Shredding apparatus for disintegrating materials for the subsequent processing of the disintegrated materials comprising in combination: a pair of parallel, spaced-apart shredding cylinders, each cylinder including a plurality of articulated, radially protruding and axially and circumferentially spaced shredding flails, intake means for receiving the materials to be shredded, and means for feeding the material to be shredded from the intake means to the cylinders, the feeding means comprising a pair of elongate opposing feeding surfaces which are angularly inclined with respect to each other and which have first ends adjacent the intake means relatively remote from each other and second ends adjacent the cylinders relatively proximate to each other, means for activating the feeding surfaces to force feed material to be shredded to the cylinders, means mounting at least one of the surfaces for relative pivotal movement with respect to the other surface about a pivot axis positioned so that the second ends of the surfaces can be moved towards and away relative to each other to permit the passage of objects of varying sizes between the second ends of the surfaces, and means for resiliently biasing the second end of said one surface towards the second end of the other surface. 